Supreme Court is not an extension of executive branch
Re: “To Obama, legal precedents are all about politics,” April 6
As Clint Eastwood once declared on screen; “A man’s got to know his limitations.” President Obama’s recent criticism of the Supreme Court clearly indicates that he does not know his. Apparently, our law professor POTUS either doesn’t understand or doesn’t respect the Constitution he’s sworn to defend.
What Obama seems not to understand is how the “unelected” court could possibly strike down Obamacare after it was approved by Congress.
Civics 101: Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances. The one branch of government not directly subject to the electorate is the court. This allows it to be more objective and more loyal to both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution than the other two branches, which must go before voters every few years.
It seems that the president views the SCOTUS as a mere extension of the executive and legislative branches whose duty is to advance the agenda of the other two. Not so. The high court’s duty is the same as the president’s: to defend the Constitution against anything that would undermine the spirit of the document, and to do so while insulated from reprisal by the other two branches through lifetime appointments.
The court, which interprets the law in light of the Constitution, knows its limits. The president needs to learn his.
William Jones
Washington
Animals are more than just research tools
Re: “PETA vs. people … and animals,” April 6
Matt Patterson condemns the actions of PETA, a group dedicated to the welfare of animals everywhere. Although PETA often does go overboard (e.g., throwing paint on people wearing fur coats is a criminal act not likely to win the group any supporters), I disagree with Mr. Patterson’s apparent belief that animals exist merely to serve human purposes.
While he may be right that PETA’s actions drive biomedical researchers overseas, he misses the overall message that treating animals as mere research tools is wrong. Animals suffer and feel pain, something that too many people either refuse to believe or simply ignore.
I have worked in an academic research laboratory where animals were used for research, and while staff treated them as well as possible, it was obvious those animals could not escape their fate. Through no fault of their own, they were condemned to die because too many people don’t believe an animal has a right to its own existence.
Jason Ramage
Woodbridge
A second term for Obama would be disastrous
Re: “President Obama deserves a second term,” From Readers, April 5
Edd Doerr is absolutely wrong when he says that President Obama deserves a second term. Obama is a coward who always blames previous presidents for the nation’s troubles instead of taking responsibility for them himself. He also thinks it is his place to tell the U.S. Supreme Court how to rule.
Gasoline prices have doubled on Obama’s watch, and he has saddled America with a deficit unprecedented in U.S. history. He refuses to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, when it is not his prerogative to choose which laws he will enforce. But he has refused to prosecute the Black Panthers in Philadelphia for their intimidation of white voters trying to exercise their voting rights. Both refusals are an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Obama seeks to force American taxpayers to pay for abortion, their religious objections be damned. This is clearly a violation of First Amendment guarantees of religious freedom. The American people have much to fear from an unrestrained Obama in the White House during a second term.
Lawrence K. Marsh
Gaithersburg
